bell hooks and Laverne Cox Discuss "What is Feminism?" I The New School

Leading public intellectual bell hooks engages in inspiring dialogue with Laverne Cox, critically acclaimed actress and the first trans woman of color to have a leading role on television. What are the politics of transgender women? What exactly does contemporary feminism look like? These questions inform their provocative conversation, part of bell hook's week-long residency at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts (www.newschool.edu/lang) at The New School.
This is an excerpt from their full conversation, "A Public Dialogue Between bell hooks and Laverne Cox," available here: • bell hooks and Laverne...
Music by: BOCREW - "SUNBIRDS" - Creative Commons/CC Mixter
produced by THEDEEPR AUGUST 2012 & BOCREW 2012
ccmixter.org/files/BOCrew/38854
THE NEW SCHOOL | www.newschool.edu/
October 7, 2014 - The Auditorium at 66 West 12th Street

[@Priapismpain]

As a straight, CISgendered, White-guy, I've always felt uneasy about defining feminism because....obvious reasons. With that said, I've gotten comfortable looking at an idea and saying "That's not feminism." The example here is the one that always comes to mind. Anyone wanting to trade a woman's agency in exchange for patriarchal institutions can't call themselves a feminist, in my very humble, privileged, opinion. I don't believe TERFs are feminists either. With that said, at least they have something that resembles ideas: there are comments below that have me wondering how it is these folks managed to even navigate to this page to begin with. Imagine a cashier showing up in the local hospital and telling the surgeon how they are doing their job wrong in the operating room...

[@KennyAMV]

wtf is wrong he? aint nobody talking about abortion. if women should have the choice to get an abortion shouldn't they also have a choice to wear LV's? M'am, please.

[@user-qb3tk8rs8t]

EAD "freedom of wardrobe choice". As in not criticising the sexist ways women are groomed to look and act since birth. High heels are bad for physical health. Women wear them to feel "sexy and empowered" because that's how men want them to look, women are taught that being attractive is equal to being powerful. It's not choice when misogynistic brainwashing is involved. That's the problem with modern choice feminism. I have a lot of admiration for Ms Cox but I think this particular part of her feminism is very weak.

[@pandaamachine]

Feminism should be a fight for human rights. When you create a difference, a social category, a hierarchy behind this foundational philosophy- you reinforce the patriarchal institutional structures that you're fighting against. I love you, Bells, but shame and waste.

[@HoppyBunny.]

What is feminism? Feminism in practice is based upon 2 main convictions. 1. Feminism and feminists and only feminism and feminist have an absolute exclusive monopoly on all higher morality and ethics. 2. Feminism and feminists believe with absolute unwavering conviction that they and only they are exclusively qualified to determine, judge and define the entirety of male lived experiences more than the men who actually live our experiences.